


a storm in your eyes

by fallingmistinthedark



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Kidfic, Medium Burn Allura/Shiro, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn Allura/Lance, Slow Burn Shiro/Lance, altean!lance, for a while, they meet as kids au!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-02-16 21:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13062384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingmistinthedark/pseuds/fallingmistinthedark
Summary: "Lance's first memory of the Crown Princess is filtered in the gently falling snow of the Year's End Festival at the palace. It was a miracle his family had even been invited, much less that his parents had let him come, overprotective as they were. His parents weren't anyone special, his mother had simply won the Fighter engineer's ticket giveaway that year."~Allura and Lance are the best of friends, have been since they met when they were 10. So it's no surprise that when Allura has to evacuate Altea with Coran, she begs for Lance to come with her. But by some turn of events, they are seperated. And thus, the stage is set. Voltron will be back. Even if it's revival takes 10,000 years.





	a storm in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> more altean!Lance... yay!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lance and allura's childhood, and the events leading up to the first episode of canon. enjoy!
> 
> *also, just a super quick note, this isn't beta'd. i'll go back and fix the mistakes later, just not now.

**Age 10**

Lance's first memory of the Crown Princess is filtered in the gently falling snow of the Year's End Festival at the palace. It was a miracle his family had even been invited, much less that his parents had let him come, overprotective as they were. His parents weren't anyone special, his mother had simply won the Fighter engineer's ticket giveaway that year.

He remembers pushing his way through the crowd, desperate to get away for a moment. It had been fun inside, but he didn't like all the adult stuff going on. And besides, the snow was always nice. It felt nice on his skin, especially coming outside from the heated inside. That's when he'd noticed the little girl staring curiously at him, hair braided up and away neatly, pink dress perfectly in place. Pink marked her cheeks. He recognized her from the introductions at the beginning of course, but for some reason, he wouldn't bow to her like all the other's did. He could tell she hadn't enjoyed it. 

"Hi, 'Llura right! M'name's Lance!" He'd greeted, holding out his hand to shake. While he refused to bow to her, he wasn't absolutely devoid of manners. Her eyes had widened at the offered hand, flicking back forth from the outstretched hand to his eyes. He nodded when she looked back up. 

"Hello... Lance," she said as she hesitantly took his hand. He wrinkled his nose at her tone. "My name's Allura." She said, nodding, her tone softening out to a regular kid voice. It was the first time she'd gotten rid of what he would eventually call her "Royal Voice" and her "Allura Voice". The distinction between the two seemed really important at the time. 

"What do you like to do?" He asked her, coming closer to take the chair next to her. She opened and closed her mouth several times, almost like she didn't know what to say. She probably didn't, Lance thought, so he took control and talked about the things he liked doing, keeping his eyes on the falling snow the whole time. He told her about making juniberry flower crowns in spring, going to the lake/ocean/whatever in the summer, and sledding in the winter. Allura was nodding politely when he glanced over at her each time, eyes slowly filling with increasingly more wonder. He ended his rant with a question aimed at her, "Do you think you'd like to do anything like that?" She blinked at him, a smile stretching across her face. 

"I'd like to do all of that, Lance," Allura responded, "Do you mind if I talk about what I like to do?" 

"Of course not!" Lance exclaimed, all too happy to hear about whatever the girl in front of him had to say. She explained happily about all the things she liked to do, some of which that, while he might not understand them, he could see they made her happy and excited, like a kid should be. So he listened, and he laughed with her, and he asked questions when he needed to, and she answered with a movement to her hands that matched her words and the thing she she was trying to explain. By the time she had finished talking about the things she liked, they moved on to their families. 

Allura talked about her mom, the Queen, with sparkling eyes and warmth in her voice. Lance talked about his mom and his dad and his little sibling that had yet to come, and Allura responded by telling him about her dad, the King and Red Paladin of Voltron with pride and happiness in the words she spoke. Lance responded by telling her about his friends at school. 

He was in the middle of explaining about school holiday parties when the door to the balcony opened and a ginger-haired Altean stepped out, looking pointedly at Allura. “There you are Princess! Your father, mother, and I have been looking all over this ball for you, young lady.” Lance pouted at the man who had interrupted their conversation, so he decided to tell him so. 

“It’s rude to interrupt a conversation, y’know,” Lance said, rather loudly for the quiet offered by the balcony in the night. The man’s head snapped to look at Lance, looking extremely surprised to see him. It was almost like he hadn’t noticed Lance was even there. He probably hadn’t. 

“And who might this young man be, Princess Allura?” The man asked, directing his questions at ‘Llura instead of at Lance himself who was sitting right there, but he let Allura answer anyways. 

“He’s Lance, and my friend! We talked for a really long time, Coran!" Allura announced, looking extremely pleased with herself. Coran nodded, but he was still just looking at Lance. Lance didn't really understand why. She'd told the man who he was... so why did he not look like the answer had satisfied his question? Lance shook his head to rid it of such thoughts. Maybe it hadn't been answered exactly how he'd wanted it to. 

"My parents work here! They got one of the family attendance lottery tickets!" Lance exclaimed, and the man nodded again, a smile spreading over his face. Lance smiled back, happy that he'd correctly deduced what the man had wanted. 

"Are you the Lance McClain I've been told to watch out for? Your parents are missing you, my boy. You should go find them," Coran told him, and Lance nodded rapidly, already getting up from his balcony chair. Allura was looking at him worriedly when he looked back to her, just as he was about to open the door to rush inside. 

"Want to meet my parents, 'Llura?" When Lance saw the look Coran was shooting him because he thought Lance couldn't see it, Lance added, "And you can come too, I guess." Allura nodded, springing up from her chair before Coran could even say anything. 

"Of course! I'd love to meet them! They sound like such wonderful people!" Allura said, taking his offered hand as they rushed in together, pushing through the crowds to find Lance's parents with Coran right on their heels. It must have been a weird sight for the Alteans who saw it that day, the little princess with the brightest smile on her face they'd ever seen being led through the crowd by a servant's child, with the King's adviser right on their heels. 

Lance finally found his parents in a corner of the room, talking quietly together. His dad had a starstruck look to him, and his mom looked amused at his dad. 

"Mama! Papa!" Lance cried to get their attention. His mom turned arms already reaching towards him as she greeted him back, abruptly stopping when her eyes opened, only to be faced with the two people her son had brought with him. "I found a friend!" He exclaimed happily, waiting a moment of Coran looking disapprovingly down at him, "And a Coran!" he begrudgingly added. 

"We see that, sweetie... how did you meet the Princess?" His dad asked, taking a step closer, nodding respectfully at Coran as he did so. Lance smiled wide. 

"We both went to the balcony at the same time! And then I asked her what she liked to do, and that made us talk about our families and our learning and a whole bunch of stuff!" Lance exclaimed. "Anyways, this is 'Llura, and she's my friend." He turned to Allura, "Allura, this is my Mama and Papa. They work here, at the Castle!" 

"Hello, Lance's parents! I am Princess Allura, and this is my father's adviser, Coran," Allura introduced herself, smiling brightly up at the two. His parents nodded, an unbelieving look on their faces. "What do you two do here at the castle?" 

"Um, hello Princess! My name is Hana and I am a flight engineer for atmosphere fighters and the like," his mother greeted, motioning to her formal wear. She mostly wore it for when she had to work a reception of ambassador vessels. 

"That is very important work you do, Mrs.McClain and I thank you very much for keeping us and our guests safe when we fly!" Allura said, surprising his mother by the look on her face with her thanks. 

"I'm a Royal Tailor, my name is Kai, though most of what I do is clothing servants and submitting designs to the actual Royal Tailor you know well for you to wear," his father said, a slight smile on his face. Allura's smile had almost immediately become a beam of pure delight once he'd said his name. 

"You're Kai?" She asked, continuing what she was saying after he nodded sheepishly. "I love your designs! They're my favorite to wear because they're so pretty but functional and comfortable at the same time!"

"Surely there is another Kai on the tailoring team, Princess," his father said, not one for such high praise. Allura shook her head. 

"I have asked, and there is not. Thank you for my clothes, Mr.McClain!" His father nods, a wide awkward, hesitant smile on his face. Neither of his parents are ones for compliments. They preferred doing their work where it wasn't in the spotlight. 

"You're quite welcome, Princess Allura. If I remember correctly, I'm in the process of making a lilac dress for you, for your mother's return," his father told her, smiling more readily as she jumped up and down at the idea. 

"Thank you! I can't wait to wear it!" Allura told him, just as Coran coughed in the back to get their attention. 

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. McClain. It's obvious the Princess likes spending time with your son. Is it possible to arrange some sort of regular meetings for the two after Lance is finished with his regular schooling?" Coran asked, causing Allura to gasp in surprise and delight, Lance was too surprised to do much other than glance between his parents, looking for any sort of sign that their answer would be positive. His father's brows were furrowed, and his mother was chewing on her lip as they thought. 

His mother finally spoke up, glancing down at the two. Lance caught the look out of the corner of his eye, since he and Allura had taken to staring at each other in excitement. "Are you sure it's alright? I mean, the Princess is the princess, and Lance...," his mother trailed off, but Lance bet he could guess what she meant. The thought had crossed his mind while they'd been talking outside. Their lives weren't so different, it was just that Allura was a member of the royal family of Altea, and Lance was just the son of two diligent Castle workers. 

"I was just asking King Alfor that while you four were talking. He seems okay with it, as long as I am satisfied with the quality of your family, and I am, but you are more than welcome to approach the King with this matter, he says. In fact, I believe I can see him coming this way," Coran said, pointing to where, sure enough, a rather tall man was making his way through the crowds towards their little corner. Allura lit up once she spotted him, taking off towards the man with a cry. 

"Father!" She exclaimed just as he broke through the outer edge of the crowd. He opened his arms to her, catching her as she jumped to him. He twirled her in a circle, the patrons of the party behind them shuffling just a bit to avoid being hit. 

"Allura! My dear! You look lovely! How are you doing?" The King asked his daughter. Lance glanced behind him to look at his parents, willing to glance away just to see the very dumbstruck expressions his parents wore. He laughed a bit at them. It was kind of silly, getting all flustered over meeting Allura's dad. He was a person too, even if he was their king, creator of Voltron, and Red Paladin. 

"Father! I am doing quite well. I've met a new friend! His name is Lance!" Allura told him, never leaving the cradle of his arm as he held her up so he could talk to her while looking her in the eyes. Alfor glanced around before his eyes settled on Lance. Lance smiled wide, waving a bit at the king. He waved back with his unoccupied hand. 

"I see that. Coran tells me you would like to meet again, is that right?" Alfor asked her. Allura nodded rapidly. 

"Yes. I would like it very much," she stated firmly, tugging on Alfor's formal cape to be let down. He gently set her down before following her over to where Lance's parents had straightened up. "This is Lance," she said, pointing to him. Lance waved again, stepping back to semi-hide behind his father's well made cape. It wasn't nearly as embellished and detailed as the King's, it was simply to show off his status as a employee of the royal family. It was green, to show his status as a Tailor. Now that the king was closer, Lance could see why his parents had done what they had. The man was kind of intimidating, especially to the younger version of himself. 

He wished he could go back to that moment, just to relive the happy days over again. Blue hushed him as she gently prompted him back into the memory. _It is not yet time, my raindrop. Live these happy moments once more, you can wake up soon, I promise. Everything will be alright._ He felt himself relax, going back to the first meeting after the party. 

His parents had talked with Alfor and Coran when the King wasn't available to double and triple check that it was alright. Who could blame them, after all? They wanted to make sure their son wasn't flat out rejected entry upon arrival. 

Lance, however, was just excited that he was about to see Allura again. He'd missed her, despite only talking and playing with her that one night. He was thrumming with excitement during his whole school day. He could hardly sit still and listen like he usually did, and it showed. He almost had to go to the office, but he didn't want to be bad right before he was supposed to see Allura. What would happen if Coran or Alfor found out about it? Would they ban him from seeing Allura forever? He shivered at the very thought. He was good the whole rest of the day. His teacher even commended him on his good behavior afterwards and gave him some candy!

He saved it to eat with Allura later. He was humming to himself as he stepped outside into the bright Altean afternoon. Waiting for him was a Castle car, as agreed by both parental authorities. Coran was poking his head out, surveying the crowd exiting the school for Lance. Once he spotted the boy he started waving. Lance sighed, and continued forward. Now his classmates were sure to ask him why a crazy man with an even crazier mustache was hailing him for entry into a royal car. 

The ride with Coran was a bit awkward as the adviser asked him how his week had been and how school had gone. And also the part where Coran asked to look through his bag and to empty his pockets. Coran had kind of stared at the candy he'd pulled out, but ended up smiling a little to himself and giving it back. Lance understood it from a safety standpoint. He'd had to be patted down before the party too, simply to protect the royal family and all the people attending the party, his parents had told him. 

Allura was, surprisingly, waiting for him just inside the entrance, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. Coran took one look at her as she launched herself at Lance to hug him and said, "Shouldn't you be in your room, waiting for us to get up there?" There was a fond note to his voice, and a smile on his face when Lance was finally able to look back at him when Allura let go a moment later. 

"I was, but I was so excited I asked Mother if I could come down here!" Allura told the adviser. He nodded, and motioned for Lance and Allura to follow him. 

"Alright. I guess we'll have to go up to meet her, then, I suppose?" Coran asked, leading them up the stairs.

"Of course!" Allura exclaims, "Lance you have to meet Mother! She's the best!" Lance laughs. 

"I bet she's not better than _my_ mom!" Lance said back, smile across his face as he adjusted his backpack and they were led down a hallway. 

"You take that back!" Allura teased, poking him on the shoulder. 

"Never!" Lance responded, as hey stopped in front of a door. Coran knocked, so Lance supposed the Queen was inside. Lowering his voice he added, "My mom's the best!" Allura leaned in closer too, whispering back, "Get ready to eat those words, McClain!" 

"Come in!" a gentle voice called from inside. The owner of the voice was soon revealed to be Allura's mother as Coran opened the door. She was sitting serenely on the couch to the left of the door, beckoning her daughter over to greet her back. "Is that your friend Allura?” the Queen asked as her daughter hugged her. Allura stepped back and motioned back over to Lance proudly.

“Yes! This is Lance, my friend,” Allura introduced him. Lance opened and closed his mouth, trying to think of something to say now that the Queen’s attention was on him, but, all else failing, he dropped into a rather rushed and lopsided bow. It gave him a moment to think, even if it wasn’t a bit ridiculous. 

“Hello! My name is Lance, Your Highness,” Lance said, before mentally kicking himself in the shin as he realized he’d just repeated what Allura had said. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Lance. I trust my daughter isn’t making too much trouble for you?” She asked, a teasing hint of smile on her lips. Allura immediately pouted with an indignant cry of, “Mother!”

“Of course not! If anything, I've probably been the trouble," Lance announced confidently, before deflating once he realized he'd basically just told on himself. _That could've gone better,_ he distantly thought as the queen burst out laughing. 

"That's very sweet of you dear," she said, beckoning him closer. He was afraid she would do something to him if he got too close for being trouble for her daughter, but instead she folded him into her arms once he'd gotten close enough. "Thank you for being my daughter's friend, Lance. Welcome to the family."

**Age 12**

"Allllllllurrrraaaaaaaa," Lance whined from his spot on the training mat, looking worse for the wear while Allura, as usual, looked pristine. "This is literally only my first spar with youuuuuu, go a little easy on me would you?" Allura smirked wickedly, offering her hand to pull him up. She shook her head as he landed on his feet. 

"If the enemy won't go easy on you, then I won't. Let me know when the enemy will decide to go easy on you for your benefit," Allura told him, tossing him his staff, which had been tossed aside the last time Allura had beat him... which had been what, a minute ago now? Lance groaned. They still had an hour left in this session. Coran had had to do something, so he'd just left a note saying to go spar with Allura... who was high A Rank while he was mid B Rank. He'd done it anyways, because it was time spent with Allura, and because he was a good student, especially when he reminded himself that he was training so that he could protect Allura if anything happened in a rare moment where it was just them. 

"I have to be able to walk tomorrow, y'know! I've gotta get to the Academy somehow, and I'm definitely not letting you guys chauffeur me," Lance replied, moving into the right starting position for a staff. They each took two steps away from each other. 

"Start Round!" Allura called, and a ring of light appeared in a 5 foot diameter around them. The round would end when one of them was pushed past the ring or their staff was knocked away. The longest round they'd had so far was five minutes, mostly because Lance had decided to just dodge her every single time she tried knocking his staff away. So, she simply changed her tactic and forced him out of the ring. 

This time, Lance wagered he'd try that again and see how far he could make it. Three minutes later, he knew his answer. _Well_ , he thought, _I lasted longer than last time._ "Is there anything you're _not_ a god at?" Lance asked, hissing in pain. Allura shrugged sheepishly. "That, or I must suck at everything." Allura reached out a hand for him as she offered a reassuring smile. 

"Did you know the combat level that most guards around here are?" Allura asked, going to retrieve his staff as he caught his breath. He shook his head. "It's lower to mid B level, so I'd say you're doing better than a majority of the guards."

"Hold on, wait a minute, I thought most guards were upper A with some even being S," Lance told her, confusion blanketing his features. Allura laughed. 

"Just the Royal Guard that we keep the closest to us. My assigned guard is a Captain for the Royal Guard. He's almost an S," Allura explained, delighted in the confused, indignant squawk that came from Lance. 

"So you're saying that I'm better than most of the guards in this city?" Lance asked her, looking for confirmation. She nodded. 

"I'd say you're doing fairly well for a twelve-year-old that just started training in the last year and a half," Allura praised, getting her staff in the ready stance. _Oh no_ , Lance's mind went as he maneuvered his weapon into the ready potion just as Allura shouted, "Start Round!"

Later that day, as Coran reviewed his results with Allura, making hums of insight every now and again, something was refusing to leave Lance's mind. Ever since he'd seen some of the Royal Guards doing shooting practice, Lance had wanted to start training with guns, as well as staff and dagger fighting. 

"Hey Coran," Lance blurted out before he could really figure out what he was actually going to say. 

"Yes, Lance?" Coran asked, not looking up from the tablet in his hands. 

"I was wondering... no wait, it's stupid," Lance said, chickening out. That made Coran look up. 

"Nothing is stupid coming from you, Lance. If there is something troubling you, please tell me. Especially if it is related to Allura." Lance nodded, feeling new confidence from the man's words, even as he shook his head. 

"It's not about Allura, but it's related to her, kind of," Lance told the other, who had just turned off his tablet to give his student the full attention necessary to attend to the matter at hand. 

"Of course. Is there anything I can do to help?" Coran asked before Lance could even start talking about what was actually going on with him. Lance opened and closed his mouth a couple of times unsure of how he wanted to answer that question. 

"Kinda?" He settled on, voice trailing off. Coran looked incredibly confused. Lance took a breath as he got to explaining what it was he actually wanted. "So, I saw some of the Royal Guard practicing shooting and...," he trailed off, unsure if the other would actually let him do it. Coran's face suddenly lit up as he got what he did out of what Lance had said. 

"So you want to start learning how to fight with guns?" Coran finished, eyes sparkling with delight when Lance nodded. Then, he deflated just a bit as he announced, "We usually don't start that training until thirteen, but you're just a couple of months off from that, aren't you?" Lance stared at the other drolly. 

"Coran, my birthday was three months ago," Lance pointed out. 

"Exactly! I never did say which direction off, did I?" Lance's mouth dropped open, staring at the other in shock and excitement. 

"So you'll let me?" Lance asked. Cora shook his head. 

"Even better! We start tomorrow, and we'll use your free Academy slot to do it, so it won't interfere with your training here!" Coran told him, excitedly opening up his tablet before rapidly typing some things in. 

"That's great!" Lance exclaimed, before realizing something. "That's really great, but what about my instructor? Is it gonna be you again, like staff and dagger fighting?" Coran shook his head. 

"No, I never had any talent for that sort of thing, but I do know someone where that kind of thing is right up their alley...," Coran told him with a wink. 

"Who?" Lance asked, but he never did get an answer from the man. 

A few days later, he was asked to report to the target fields during his free session. _Finally...,_ he remembered thinking. He was expecting to find someone good with a gun out there, but what he was not expecting to find a large, blue colored man. A man that was extremely famous, a ruler of a planet in the Altean Alliance, and a paladin of Voltron. He was not expecting for said person to turn around grinning, look him straight in the eyes and ask, "Are you Lance? Coran has told me a lot about you. My name is Blaytz and I'll be your shooting instructor."

**Age 14**

Allura was watching him quietly off to the side while he practiced shooting the moving targets in her training area. She had asked him to show her when he got there that day, since she'd heard about how he'd won his school's shooting competition, beating out one of the top three in the senior class for the prize. For a student in his last year of intermediary school, it had been pretty impressive. Blaytz had been ecstatic when he'd found out and promised to take Lance out for ice cream next time he saw him. Allura looked to be watching him with awe, in the few glances back that he'd had. 

"Say, Allura, what did you choose to specialize in?" Lance asked, shooting three of the sentries quickly as they moved towards him. Allura coughed and he heard the sound of shuffling as she got closer. She'd been sick for the past week, and she was better, but her throat was still pretty torn up. 

"Quintessence Manipulation. I'm much better at that than I am guns. They're not very accurate," Allura told him softly, and he almost missed it because he had to fire off a few rounds again. 

"Excuse you, you're just irritated we finally found something you're not good at," Lance told her, looking back around just to stick his tongue at her. Allura's face scrunched up a little as she mocked him. 

"I'm not _bad_ at it," Allura stressed, "it's just not for me."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Princess," he only called her that when they were joking around. 

"I sleep very well, I'll have you know," Allura replied, chin upturned away from him. He laughed as he shot the next round of sentries down. 

"Then it must be working," Lance shot back, grinning when she tried to laugh but just ended up kind of coughing at the end. 

"Extremely well, you should try it yourself," Allura recommended, watching intently as the last level of mid A, where he currently was, appeared. Lance took care of the first two, but the other two were proving to a problem. So instead of shooting them with his longer range weapon, he pulled out his pistol and shot twice, hitting both in the heads. They went down, and suddenly he was in high A. "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen," Allura told him as he stopped the training session. He realized she was dead serious when he turned and she was staring at him intently.

He was about to try to tell her it most assuredly wasn't (she'd watched some of Voltron's battles firsthand, as far as he could tell) when Coran burst into the room, looking absolutely shocked and ashen. Lance stiffened, protectively stepping towards Allura. Allura stood up and rushed past him, towards Coran. 

"Coran, what's happened?" She asked, her tone controlled as she gripped a hold of the fabric of his shirt.

"Daibazaal is gone. Zarkon and Honerva with it," Coran bit out, looking extremely distraught. 

"And father?" Allura asked, all the breath gone out of her. Lance was still stuck, knowing this could change literally everything. The head of Voltron was gone, who would replace him? There was an imbalance of power, he noted, now that the Galra were basically all refugees with no real leader now that Zarkon was gone. 

"The other paladins are fine, distraught and disconsolate, but okay. They're each going home, but Blaytz is coming back with Alfor," suddenly Coran looked straight at Lance, acknowledging his presence there for the first time. Lance met his eyes. "Blaytz said he had something to give you, Lance. He remembered, my boy." Coran looked to Allura then, sobering up a bit. "Allura, go to your mother, she was close with Honerva. Lance, you can choose whether to stay here and wait for Blaytz or go back home and come when we call you."

"I'll just stay here. Can I come with you, Allura?" Lance asked her. He didn't want to butt in on a family moment, but he also didn't want to be alone. If all else failed, he'd find his father in the tailoring offices. 

"Of course. She'll be happy to have you there until father gets back." He nodded, following close behind once Coran told them to go. They half-walked, half-ran in silence, terrible, terrible silence. They were both drowning in their own worries. It was a stark contrast to where they had been just minutes earlier, laughing and teasing with each other. 

Lance remembered that he thought they would be fine then, that Voltron would protect them. He'd been so, so wrong. Blue's presence brushed up against him, hushing him. _There is still good left in that life, my young paladin. Relive it, for it is not yet time to come back._ And so, he slipped back into the memories. He remembers just holding his family tight that night, after they'd all gotten home. Him, his father, his mother, and his sister. Scared, worried, and confused. Emotions that would become a hallmark in this new life ran rampant among them that night. He's sure the same went for Allura's family. He hoped, above all hopes, Coran was with someone too. 

**Age 15**

He'd been training harder since that day a year ago. He'd made it to high-A since then, and he was sitting on the edge of S when it happened. He remembers winning the national shooting competition just days before, and he was still riding high off that victory. He'd been doing better with his spars against Allura as well.

The paladins had been run ragged since that day keeping the peace in many Galran-led worlds that had tried to break free of the new democratically led Galran council. It hadn't been working too well, though, hence the mass revolutions that kept happening. Alfor was almost never home, and Coran and Allura were practically running Altea at this point. He hadn't seen her much in those days, but whenever they did see each other, she would just curl up close to him and rest as they talked in hushed voices. Sometimes, they would sleep curled around each other in a hidden corner or room, both exhausted from everything that had gone down in the past year. He was pretty sure he was the only thing keeping her sane at this point. 

"Lance?" Allura asked one evening as they were both on the edge of sleep. Lance hummed an answer, too tired to properly respond. "Do you think everything will get better soon?" He didn't answer for a moment. It all seemed pretty hopeless right now, and even with no royal training he knew that, but, in the grand scheme of things it had been very little time at all. A year wasn't a lot when an entire large and well-known planet was destroyed, a nation broken, and it's peoples displaced. 

"Of course I do," he murmured, curling closer to her. "We have to believe it will, because nothing will ever get done if we don't, will it?" Lance asked her, nuzzling the crook between her chin and shoulder. She shifted, and he cracked one eye open to find her face incredibly close to his. She was smiling at him, but there were tears on her eyelashes. 

"When did you get so smart?" She asked him, letting out a soft chuckle. Lance smiled back, fondly lifting a hand to wipe her eyes. She was so much prettier when she was smiling, not to say she wasn't pretty when she was crying. He just thought she looked more her age when she was smiling or laughing at something he'd said. Those moments were becoming fewer and fewer. 

"Oh, you know, whenever my best friend started having to run a country in her father's place," He answered. She sniffled, frowning. "You know you shouldn't have to do that yet, right?" Lance asked worriedly. She nodded. 

"I don't blame him though. Voltron has an important job to do...," she trailed. They both knew that to be true. But Lance thought it still didn't excuse the _King_ from having to run the country. He'd left his Royal quiznacking Adviser and his fifteen year old daughter to run a whole quiznacking planet when neither were prepared in the slightest to take on such an immense task. 

"That's quiznack and you know it," Lance told her. She blinked, startled at his use of the word. He never cursed normally, unless he was really, really mad about something. He could feel his hands shaking as he hugged her to him. "He had a responsibility and he abandoned it."

"You're right... but I don't like to admit it," Allura told him, her response muffled by his shirt. He gripped her tighter. 

"I don't either, but sometimes people make choices and they aren't necessarily the best ones, but we have to deal. We can survive this, okay Allura?" 

That's when Coran found them, curled around each other, a terrified look in his eyes. 

"Zarkon is back, and he wants Altea destroyed," he blurted out before Allura or Lance could say anything. 

"How?" Allura whispered, a stricken look on her face.

"Quintessence, is what the others are saying," Coran tells them, motioning for them to get up. "Both of your bags are already packed. We have to take the Castle of Lions and go. That's what the council decided would be best for you, Princess. Lance is coming because they decided you would need him to protect you if all else fails."

"Why? What's happening that you haven't told us, Coran?" Lance asks, his fear seeping into his voice. His sister is out there, somewhere. His parents too. Coran's smile was pained. 

"The Galra here are revolting. They want to return to their leader. There is no time, we must hurry." And that's how Lance's life ended and began for the second time in one year. 

**Age 17**

It had been two years since they'd been... on the run. They both preferred avoiding to use that term. They didn't particularly _want_ to be in hiding, constantly moving to avoid Zarkon's forces, but there they were, forced to move for the third time in a month because of sightings of Galran battleships close by. 

Lance liked to think that in that time, he'd gotten better at shooting and fighting, and while they'd fought a few scouts so far, Lance had yet to kill anything. Which was good. Extremely good, in fact, as he'd been told by Coran. If he did, he'd be giving the Galra a reason to double, triple their efforts into finding and capturing Allura to lure Alfor and the other paladins out of their hiding. 

Lance had sworn to himself the night they left as he clutched Allura close as she slept that he wouldn't let that happen, even if he had to die to keep it. 

He and Allura had gotten much closer as well. There were only four people on the Castle, him, Coran, Coran's husband and Allura, so it was pretty lonely if you weren't with somebody, so, most of the time, Lance and Allura were holed up in their special room, a room close enough to the bridge so that Allura could teleport them away if the worst happened, but also hidden from the main stretch of hallways. The room had most of the pillows in the Castle on every surface, that and blankets. Books were strewn around, and a tv receiving the most recent news of Altea was on always, at low volume, on the wall directly opposite of the door. Whenever they weren't training, eating, or with Coran and/or Kalnir (Coran's husband), they were here. 

They were currently in their room, not really doing anything, just sitting back to back as Allura watched the news. The capital had burned no less than six times since they'd been gone. This was the seventh. Lance was thinking about their job tomorrow. They were running low on food, so Kal and Coran had decided to stop them at a fringe trading world to get more of it. Lance and Allura were to go, as the youngest and the most skilled at changing their features.

He wanted it to go well, because if it didn't, they could be captured by bounty hunters and handed over to Zarkon anyways, even though Allura might not even look like herself at the moment, simply because they were Alteans. Alteans were a handsome bounty nowadays, simply for their worth to the Galra Empire right now. He'd have to look strong enough to protect them both, and have Allura look like she could throw you through a wall. He guessed it'd buy them the space and protection they needed, but god was he bad at probability. 

The next day, Lance and Allura found themselves in the market, given a lot of Altean currency to spend, and Lance's dual pistols and Allura's staff to their name. The two had been stared at all the way through the market, and as soon as they exited it to go back to their pod, they could immediately tell. 

"We're being followed, Lance murmured, glancing to the side of them. 

"I could tell. They aren't very subtle," Allura said, stepping closer to Lance. He felt himself blush just a bit. He enjoyed when Allura was so close like this, but he had to focus on that another time. It was time for him to fulfill his role as Allura's guardian. "Which means they're very stupid, inexperienced, or confident enough in their skills to give themselves away like this. Or a combination of any of those," Allura analyzed, hand going to her staff as Lance's went his pistols. 

"Or they're underestimating us," Lance reminded her. Alteans were known for being peaceful and generally not knowing how to defend themselves. Which made them especially easy targets for bounty hunters. 

"True," Allura said, just as four masked individuals stepped out of the shadows in front of them, followed by four behind them. "Or they know who we are..."

"Quiznack," Lance muttered, as a clear leader stepped forward, removing their mask. 

"Alteans do not come out this far, boy, unless they're running from something. So, naturally, I came to the conclusion that you, little miss, are the miss-ing princess," Allura shuddered, and Lance felt himself go numb. Her reaction had been a dead giveaway. The leader didn't even wait for a response, and neither did Lance. Without looking, Lance took out the two to both sides of them. And then, in another two shots, another one was gone, he'd missed the second one in his worry as Allura got into her ready stance. 

"You're going to regret that," the leader stated as they brought something out of their cloak. Lance recognized it immediately. It was basically an insta-knockout. In the meantime, Allura had finished off the other four, lying in an unconscious heap at her feet, staff held firmly in her hand as she looked down at them. 

"Allura!" Lance yelled desperately as the leader aimed the weapon at her. It was warming up, getting ready to fire. And Allura hadn't even looked over yet. "Run!" He said as he moved to get in front of the blast, just as it fired. 

The next thing he knew was the sight of one of the Castle's pods directly over them, and Coran getting out as Kal fought with the leader. Allura was screaming, shouting something that Lance couldn't make out. He couldn't hear anything, come to think of it. He couldn't get up, he couldn't speak. Couldn't warn Kal that the other had a knife, but it was already much too late. It was Coran's turn to scream something, even as he dragged Allura aboard the ship, her pack filled with all the supplies the two could need and more. Lance smiled. At least they'd made it out, he thought as the door closed, just in time to avoid Galra backup. 

It wasn't until he was watching Kal's body dangling limply over a soldier's shoulder that it had been his name Allura was screaming. 

**Age 18**

Lance hated being in isolation. Every time he even so much as dared to speak to the prisoners about Voltron, the guards were on him like trained missiles. It didnt matter where they were according to where he was. They found him. Every. Single. Time. 

He'd tried again, hoping to be successful, and was shut down yet again. 

At this rate, they'd probably just hand him over to Haggar. He'd heard that Zarkon's wife had also come back, but he didn't think she'd be quite so... twisted. Horror stories were the only things to come out being sent to Haggar. That an pain and misery and death. More so than the usual life of being a slave to the new Galra Empire. 

Getting back to the isolation, however, Lance hated it because his mind slipped when he was there, wondering and wandering, far away from where he was. Sometimes it was to his sister's embrace back on Altea, or a pat on the back from his father, or an arm over his shoulder from his mother and the hints of all of who they'd been. Been because he wasn't sure if they were alive. Better to save himself the grief than have hope he'd ever see them again. 

Sometimes it was even the queen, who'd been killed a short time before he'd been taken. But mostly, it was Allura. Most of the time it was just the feeling of her somewhere against him. A thigh there, an arm here, and his back at other times. A lot of the time he'd hear her voice, laughing about something with someone who wasn't him... he hated isolation, but he also loved it. Because he got to see Allura. 

What must've been months, but felt like years later, it appeared Zarkon figured out who he was, because he had suddenly found himself a the ruler's feet. 

"If it isn't the Princess's Knight, fallen and come to me on his knees, wearing dirty rags and a pitiful look about him," Zarkon started, kicking him over from where he was on his hands and knees to just lie there on the ground. Lance grunted, but otherwise made no other moves. The wounds from his last beating were still healing. 

"L-lance?" A voice very familiar to him called, lowly, gently, confusedly. Lance looked up, trying to find where the voice had come from. A large screen was before him, covered with a single room, in which four people were crammed, but only two held his attention for longer than a moment. The king and Blaytz stared back at him, horror etched all over their faces. Zarkon laughed, a deep throaty sinister laugh. "There is the reaction I wanted to see. Look at what I have reduced this dog to? I will do the same to the princess and your adviser if you don't hand the Lions over."

"Never," the four said in unison, some more vehement, while others were less so. 

"Then perhaps I should take my frustration in your answer out on this boy? Perhaps the princess will give herself up if she sees this, her Knight, wounded ever further by her father and his paladins," Zarkon said, delighting in the terror that took hold on the two faces Lance was focusing so hard on. 

"Don't you _dare_ touch him," Blaytz roared, making Zarkon laugh once again. 

"What are you gonna do? Yell at me? You don't scare me, boy," Zarkon spat that last word as he kicked Lance hard in the stomach. Lance's vision blacked out, and he could distantly hear someone coughing in pain. He wondered who it was, and if they were okay, until moments later he realized it was him. Before he could fully recover and focus on what was around him, he felt something cut against his arms. He screamed at the stinging. 

"I swear, Zarkon, I will destroy what you have built, so help me," Blaytz spat back. Lance was barely able to identify the expression on his face before someone was digging their finger into his wound, making him scream again. 

"I'd like to see you try, " Zarkon dared, glaring at the seething paladin. And then, the screen went dark. Lance flinched as Zarkon leaned down towards him. The mans lips curled into a malicious smile. "Oh no, little Knight. I won't hurt you yet. You may turn out to have some use if you can lure Blaytz here...".

That was the last thing he was truly aware of, that and the feeling of a boot meeting his head. 

After that, they must've been keeping him under, on purpose. It was the only explanation for why he felt like he was floating through an infinite black with bits of light here, snippets of sound there, and voices sprinkled in. And the pain. There was a lot of that, but it didn't feel like someone was beating him. The pain was more precise than that. Almost as if someone was preforming an unnecessary surgery on him. 

He couldn't tell how much time had passed since he'd last really truly seen anything. He wondered, sometimes, faintly, if he was dead. If this was what death was. He really hoped it wasn't. This was just painful, being alone and feeling these brief flashes of pain throbbing somewhere. Here, unlike in isolation, he couldn't even see those he held close. All there was was black. Black and pain and his own thoughts. And that was even worse than the pain. 

He almost didn't notice the new sensation when it began, it was so little. It was almost like the feeling of drifting in a pool where the sides were vibrating. It was nice, and he began to relax into it without noticing. Then, it began getting more violent as time went on, until it was almost like he was being rocked in the most tumultuous of waves. And then, all of a sudden, it wasn't black anymore, and he felt himself hitting the cool surface of metal. 

"Huh?" Lance rasped out, too out of it to really consider that he'd just said that aloud, but he supposed it didn't matter. There was literally no one in this room, which surprised him considering all the value Zarkon had no doubt put on him earlier with that statement of his. He distantly wondered what was going on to warrant such an abandonment of station, but his question to himself was answered a moment later with the rocking of the ship he was on. At least, he assumed it was a ship. Lance didn't think he was on a planet, given that the Galra homeworld had just been destroyed. 

_So, there's a fight going on_ , he reasoned. He supposed all the guards had been summoned away to deal with whatever was happening, giving him enough time, he hoped, to find an escape pod and well, escape. He struggled to pull himself up with the rocking motion of the ship, but once he'd managed, he started stumbling his way to the door, only to be met by a furious-looking Galra. 

"You-!" They started, but didn't get to finish as a sword was suddenly protruding from their chest. They looked down at it, eyes going wide, before slumping over. Their body was pushed off of it, revealing a rather frantic looking Blaytz behind the guard. Blaytz's eyes must've been a mirror-image of Lance's own as they realized who the other was. Lance stumbled his way closer, and Balytz opened his arms. Lance fell into it, feeling the tears beginning to form. 

"You came," Lance rasped out, feeling Balytz slowly shift him so that he was carrying him. "You shouldn't have."

"Why not? You are important to all of us. Zarkon should not have you, as brilliant as you are," Blaytz told him, shifting him closer to his chest as he started running down the long corridor. 

"Because it was a trap," Lance responded, coughing as they ran. He could taste the blood that came with it. He knew he couldn't last long without a pod. 

"Thankfully enough, Zarkon is busy," Blatyz informed him, picking up his pace as they both heard soldier footsteps. "The rest of Voltron are fighting him on Altea. Though Trigel and Gyrgan should be pulling out to hide their Lions."

"Why?" Lance asked, worry furrowing his brows. 

"We've lost, Lance. It's time for the new paladins to rise. Black is with Allura and Coran, Blue is with me to hide, Green and Yellow will be hidden soon, and Red will fall into Galra hands," Blaytz informed him, a grimace marring his usually comfortable features. Lance shivered. 

"Then why did you come to get me?" Lance asked, struggling to get the words out as his voice became more strained. _Hello, my paladins,_ he heard, making him blink in surprise. 

"You must have just heard her, Lance. That's why. Blue insisted you were to be her next paladin," Blaytz said, looking somewhere ahead of them. Lance gasped. 

"That was Blue? She wants me, of all people to be her next paladin?" Lance asked, barely able to get the words out whole this time. Blaytz looked down at him as they approached a whole in the wall of the ship that was definitely not apart of it. The inside of it was silver and lit with blue. Lance had no doubts that Blue had attached herself to the hull of this ship as Blaytz went in to rescue him. As soon as they were in, Blue's maw shut, and she began to move. 

"Of course, Lance. You're more than you know. I've given instructions for Blue to take us to the planet I picked out to hide you and her on, though we're making a quick pit-stop to drop me off on Nalquod," Blaytz said as they continued into Blue. Lance picked his head off from the others chest as he realized something. Blaytz wasn't wearing his paladin armor, and he was without with bayard. 

"Why?" Lance asked, afraid for his teacher. Blaytz smiled, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, a smile that made Lance sad, sad and even more scared. 

"Because I'm not going with you. I am my people's leader. I can not abandon them in the face of their greatest adversary. A captain does not abandon ship," Blaytz told him.

"I wish Alfor had thought like that sooner," Lance whispered, voice breaking on all the different syllables. Blaytz smiled sadly at him. 

"Alfor is impulsive, but he's caring over everything. His emotions over Zarkon and all the people suffering from his comeback clouded his judgement. He's trying his best now, but I doubt it will be enough. Voltron will fall, so I have to get you into your pod," Blaytz told him, setting him carefully on a bench on one of Blue's walls. He soon realized he was across from a pod that was blinking, ready to go. It had both the cryostasis and regeneration icons lit. Lance sucked in a quick breath. 

"You're putting me under?" Blaytz nodded, coming back over to him with the suit. He changed Lance in silence, a pained look on his face as he took in Lance's many injuries. 

"We don't know how long it will be until the other paladins can be found. You want to be there for Allura whenever she wakes up right?" Blaytz asked once he'd finished zipping his suit up. Lance stilled as Blaytz picked him up. 

"Allura's already under?" Lance asked, brows furrowed. He would go under if she had, if only to be there for her whenever she woke. 

"Yes. Coran's navigating the Castle to a far off habitable fringe planet as we speak. Then he'll go under. We stopped there for a day as we figured out what we were going to do. All of our armor is there, along with our bayards. Coran told me to tell you that he doesn't blame you for Kal, and looks forward to seeing you again, as the Blue Paladin."

"So this will be the last time I see you?" Lance asked as Blaytz stood him up in the pod. Blaytz nodded, hands lingering on Lance's. 

"Yes. Most likely. We can't tell when you'll wake up. When any of you will wake up, if at all," Blaytz answered, hanging his head. "This is the only thing we could think of to keep you all safe." Lance nodded. He understood why they thought that. He just wished everything didn't have to be so complicated. 

"I understand," Lance answered, reaching out with effort to take Blaytz's hands. "Thank you for teaching me everything you have. I wish you all the best, Blaytz."

"As do I, Lance. I'm proud of you. Live on, Lance, and see the end of that bastard's empire." 

"I will. I'll annihilate all of them with the new Voltron when I come back," Lance promised as Blaytz finally stepped away, looking all too pained. Lance offered him one last smile. 

"You carry all of our hopes, Lance. You and Allura. Don't let us down, kid." 

"I won't." And then Blaytz pressed the button, he heard the beep, and felt the liquid wash over him. The blur of Blaytz's body as he moved away from the pod was the last thing he saw as he let the black take over. It wasn't so bad this time. And, as he discovered, he had Blue with him.


End file.
